Belle Derks
Biographic Data
| ID | 160247 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Belle Derks |
| GIVEN NAMES | Belle |
| FAMILY NAME | Derks |
| SIGNATURE | DERKS B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leiden University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0038-4134 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 179 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Do not blame 'queen bees' for gender inequality in academia
How Do Children Learn Social Categorization and Intergroup Attitudes When They Grow Up in Divided Contexts
This paper explores how group preferences develop among children living in the post-conflict context of Kosovo and how this development shapes children’s willingness to be close to their outgroup peers among the segregated majority (ethnic Albanian) and minority (ethnic Serb) members. The study was conducted in four ethnically divided primary schools, with 220 participants aged 6–10. Children played a series of games and tasks which measured ethn…
All is nice and well unless she outshines him: Higher social status benefits women's well‐being and relationship quality but not if they surpass their male partner
In two studies, we find that climbing the societal ladder has positive associations with women's well‐being and relationship outcomes but can also have negative consequences when women surpass their male partners in status. In Study 1 (N = 314), we found that women who reported having higher personal status also reported several positive relationship outcomes (e.g., higher relationship quality than women with lower personal status). However, thes…
It’s a man’s world; right? How women’s opinions about gender inequality affect physiological responses in men
In two experiments, we examined how men respond to women who either challenge or legitimize societal gender inequality, and how gender identification moderates these responses. We hypothesized that men feel less threatened by women who legitimize (vs. challenge) the gender hierarchy, and evaluate these women more positively. To investigate these expectations, we assessed self-reports (Studies 1 and 2) and cardiovascular threat/challenge responses…
Penalized for Challenging Traditional Gender Roles: Why Heterosexual Relationships in Which Women Wear the Pants May Be More Precarious
There is growing evidence that heterosexual relationships in which traditional gender roles are reversed because women have attained higher societal status than their male partner are more precarious. We argue that this is the case because both partners in role-reversed relationships are evaluated more negatively than partners in more egalitarian or traditional gender role relationships. In two experimental studies conducted in the United States …
How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe
The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce …
Distancing from a stigmatized social identity: State of the art and future research agenda on self‐group distancing
Despite equal rights, minority groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + people, and people with mental or physical disabilities face discrimination on a day‐to‐day basis in subtle and hard‐to‐recognize forms. As discrimination slips beneath the surface, it becomes difficult to fight the stigma using collective social identity coping mechanisms. Instead, individual mobility responses such as distancing the self from the stigmatized identity (“sel…
Stimulating interethnic contact in Kosovo: The role of social identity complexity and distinctiveness threat
The positive effects of intergroup contact on prejudice reduction have been widely validated by now. However, the potential of contact for intergroup relations is only available when there is readiness to have contact with outgroup members to begin with. In two correlational studies with the main ethnic groups in postconflict Kosovo, Albanian majority (Study 1, N = 221) and Serb minority (Study 2, N = 110), we examine how social identity complexi…
Does Parenthood Change Implicit Gender-Role Stereotypes and Behaviors
This study examined whether parenthood changes gender-role behavior and implicit gender-role stereotypes as assessed with an Implicit Association Test in Dutch parents. In a cross-sectional sample, parents were found to have more traditional gender-role stereotypes than nonparents with a wish to have a child and nonparents without the wish to have a child. This suggests that gender-role stereotypes increase after the transition into parenthood. I…
The queen bee phenomenon: Why women leaders distance themselves from junior women
Queen Bees and Alpha Males: Are successful women more competitive than successful men
Two studies carried out in Switzerland examined different explanations for the “Queen Bee (QB)‐phenomenon.” In Study 1 ( N = 315), female managers (vs. subordinates) identified with successful women and supported measures that would benefit these women—even though they are their direct competitors. However, they were disinclined to identify with women who put their family first, viewed themselves as different (more masculine) than junior women, a…
Moral Impression Management: Evaluation by an In-Group Member During a Moral IAT Affects Perceptual Attention and Conflict and Response Monitoring
Previous research revealed that emphasizing morality increases motivational processes that improve people’s task performance. Here we examined whether this emphasis differentially affects people’s performance in the presence of an in-group compared to an out-group member. Ostensibly while being evaluated by another person, participants performed an Implicit Association Test that was framed as a test of either their morality or their competence. R…
Self‐promotion”: How regulatory focus affects the pursuit of self‐interest at the expense of the group
Self‐interested behavior may have positive consequences for individual group‐members, but also negatively affects the outcomes of the group when group‐level and individual‐level interests are misaligned. In two studies, we examined such self‐interested, group‐undermining behavior from the perspective of regulatory focus theory. We predicted that when individual and group interests are out of alignment, individuals under promotion focus would be m…
Extending the Queen Bee Effect: How Hindustani Workers Cope with Disadvantage by Distancing the Self from the Group
Previous research revealed that one way by which members of minority groups resist disadvantage is through strategic “self‐group distancing” by evaluating this group negatively, describing themselves according to outgroup stereotypes and supporting the status hierarchy, hereby limiting societal change. Drawing upon recent work on the Queen Bee phenomenon among women at work, we explain self‐group distancing as a coping response of low identified …
At the Heart of Egalitarianism: How Morality Framing Shapes Cardiovascular Challenge Versus Threat in Whites
Work on morality framing has demonstrated that emphasizing moral ideals (vs. obligations) elicits positive intergroup attitudes among Whites (Does, Derks, & Ellemers, 2011). The current research goes beyond self-reported attitudes, by examining the effect of morality framing on more automatic, less consciously controlled responses of Whites. We tested the hypothesis that morality framing affects Whites’ appraisals of equality as challenging (vs. …
Working memory load reduces facilitated processing of threatening faces: An ERP study
The present study tested the hypothesis that facilitated processing of threatening faces depends on working memory load. Participants judged the gender of angry versus happy faces while event-related brain potentials were recorded. Working memory load was manipulated within subjects by the mental rehearsal of one- versus eight-digit numbers. Behavioral results showed that the relative slow-down to angry compared to happy faces in the gender-namin…
Searching for acceptance: Prejudice expectations direct attention towards social acceptance cues when under a promotion focus
Prejudice expectations and other interpersonal rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social evaluative information. In some studies, rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social acceptance cues, whereas other studies have found an attention bias towards social rejection cues. In the present article we argue that these attention biases constitute promotion- (vs. prevention-) oriented strategies to …
Do sexist organizational cultures create the Queen Bee?
‘Queen Bees’ are senior women in masculine organizational cultures who have fulfilled their career aspirations by dissociating themselves from their gender while simultaneously contributing to the gender stereotyping of other women. It is often assumed that this phenomenon contributes to gender discrimination in organizations, and is inherent to the personalities of successful career women. We argue for a social identity explanation and examine o…
Gender-Bias Primes Elicit Queen-Bee Responses Among Senior Policewomen
Queen bees are senior women in male-dominated organizations who have achieved success by emphasizing how they differ from other women. Although the behavior of queen bees tends to be seen as contributing to gender disparities in career outcomes, we argue that queen-bee behavior is actually a result of the gender bias and social identity threat that produce gender disparities in career outcomes. In the experiment reported here, we asked separate g…
Thou shalt not discriminate: How emphasizing moral ideals rather than obligations increases Whites' support for social equality
An important step toward reducing group-based disparities in society is creating support for equality among advantaged group members (e.g., Whites and men). The current research examined how presenting social equality between ethnic groups in terms of moral ideals (i.e., equal treatment) vs. moral obligations (i.e., non-discrimination) affected the attitudes of Whites (students in Study 1, N = 45 and 2, N = 44 and employees in Study 3a, N = 67 an…
Valuing Social Identity: Consequences for Motivation and Performance in Low-Status Groups
Presented is our perspective on the role of social identity in the motivation and performance of members of stigmatized groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women in traditionally male-dominated fields). We discuss how stigmatized group members pursuing upward mobility face significant threats in out-group environments through the numerical dominance of the higher status out-group, the negative views held by the out-group of the low-status group, and…
Social Neuroscience and Public Policy on Intergroup Relations: A Hegelian Analysis
Social neuroscience is an exciting new field with much to offer to the study of stigma and intergroup relations. In this article, we consider the potential impact that social neuroscience will have for social and public policy pertaining to these important topics. Taking a Hegelian approach, we discuss why social neuroscience should and should not be used by intergroup researchers and policy makers to inform public policy. We then critique these …
The threat vs. challenge of car parking for women: How self- and group affirmation affect cardiovascular responses
This study examines cardiovascular responses indicating challenge (vs. threat) during motivated performance of women under social identity threat. Low gender identified women should primarily be concerned with their personal identity and self-worth, leading them to benefit from self-affirmation under social identity threat. Highly identified women, conversely, should care more for the value of their group and benefit more from group affirmation. …
Working for the self or working for the group: How self- versus group affirmation affects collective behavior in low-status groups
Experiencing social identity threat can lead members of stigmatized groups to protect their self-regard by withdrawing from domains that are associated with higher status groups. Four experiments examined how providing identity affirmation in alternative domains affects performance motivation in status-defining domains among stigmatized group members. Two forms of identity affirmation were distinguished: self-affirmation, which enhances personal …
The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat
This article reviews social neuroscience research on the experience of stigma from the target's perspective. More specifically, we discuss several research programs that employ electroencephalography, event-related potentials, or functional magnetic resonance imaging methods to examine neural correlates of stereotype and social identity threat. We present neuroimaging studies that show brain activation related to the experience of being stereotyp…
Extending the Queen Bee Effect: How Hindustani Workers Cope with Disadvantage by Distancing the Self from the Group
Previous research revealed that one way by which members of minority groups resist disadvantage is through strategic “self‐group distancing” by evaluating this group negatively, describing themselves according to outgroup stereotypes and supporting the status hierarchy, hereby limiting societal change. Drawing upon recent work on the Queen Bee phenomenon among women at work, we explain self‐group distancing as a coping response of low identified …
Working for the self or working for the group: How self- versus group affirmation affects collective behavior in low-status groups
Experiencing social identity threat can lead members of stigmatized groups to protect their self-regard by withdrawing from domains that are associated with higher status groups. Four experiments examined how providing identity affirmation in alternative domains affects performance motivation in status-defining domains among stigmatized group members. Two forms of identity affirmation were distinguished: self-affirmation, which enhances personal …
The threat vs. challenge of car parking for women: How self- and group affirmation affect cardiovascular responses
This study examines cardiovascular responses indicating challenge (vs. threat) during motivated performance of women under social identity threat. Low gender identified women should primarily be concerned with their personal identity and self-worth, leading them to benefit from self-affirmation under social identity threat. Highly identified women, conversely, should care more for the value of their group and benefit more from group affirmation. …
Distancing from a stigmatized social identity: State of the art and future research agenda on self‐group distancing
Despite equal rights, minority groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + people, and people with mental or physical disabilities face discrimination on a day‐to‐day basis in subtle and hard‐to‐recognize forms. As discrimination slips beneath the surface, it becomes difficult to fight the stigma using collective social identity coping mechanisms. Instead, individual mobility responses such as distancing the self from the stigmatized identity (“sel…
The Beneficial Effects of Social Identity Protection on the Performance Motivation of Members of Devalued Groups
For members of socially devalued or stigmatized groups, work and educational settings can threaten social identity, inducing the use of coping strategies that lower their motivation (e.g., self‐segregation, domain disengagement) rather than improving their position in the social hierarchy. We review a recent research program on women and ethnic minorities to show that members of these stigmatized groups can maintain their motivation in threatenin…
Does Parenthood Change Implicit Gender-Role Stereotypes and Behaviors
This study examined whether parenthood changes gender-role behavior and implicit gender-role stereotypes as assessed with an Implicit Association Test in Dutch parents. In a cross-sectional sample, parents were found to have more traditional gender-role stereotypes than nonparents with a wish to have a child and nonparents without the wish to have a child. This suggests that gender-role stereotypes increase after the transition into parenthood. I…
Social creativity strikes back: Improving motivated performance of low status group members by valuing ingroup dimensions
Motivation of stigmatized group members to perform on status‐relevant ‘outgroup’ dimensions can be impaired after ingroup failure. Three experiments examined whether social creativity by valuing ingroup dimensions (dimensions on which an ingroup outperforms an outgroup) can increase motivation and performance on outgroup dimensions. It was hypothesized that under high social identity threat, motivation on the outgroup dimension would benefit from…
Thou shalt not discriminate: How emphasizing moral ideals rather than obligations increases Whites' support for social equality
An important step toward reducing group-based disparities in society is creating support for equality among advantaged group members (e.g., Whites and men). The current research examined how presenting social equality between ethnic groups in terms of moral ideals (i.e., equal treatment) vs. moral obligations (i.e., non-discrimination) affected the attitudes of Whites (students in Study 1, N = 45 and 2, N = 44 and employees in Study 3a, N = 67 an…
Queen Bees and Alpha Males: Are successful women more competitive than successful men
Two studies carried out in Switzerland examined different explanations for the “Queen Bee (QB)‐phenomenon.” In Study 1 ( N = 315), female managers (vs. subordinates) identified with successful women and supported measures that would benefit these women—even though they are their direct competitors. However, they were disinclined to identify with women who put their family first, viewed themselves as different (more masculine) than junior women, a…
The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat
This article reviews social neuroscience research on the experience of stigma from the target's perspective. More specifically, we discuss several research programs that employ electroencephalography, event-related potentials, or functional magnetic resonance imaging methods to examine neural correlates of stereotype and social identity threat. We present neuroimaging studies that show brain activation related to the experience of being stereotyp…
How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe
The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce …
Valuing Social Identity: Consequences for Motivation and Performance in Low-Status Groups
Presented is our perspective on the role of social identity in the motivation and performance of members of stigmatized groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women in traditionally male-dominated fields). We discuss how stigmatized group members pursuing upward mobility face significant threats in out-group environments through the numerical dominance of the higher status out-group, the negative views held by the out-group of the low-status group, and…
Penalized for Challenging Traditional Gender Roles: Why Heterosexual Relationships in Which Women Wear the Pants May Be More Precarious
There is growing evidence that heterosexual relationships in which traditional gender roles are reversed because women have attained higher societal status than their male partner are more precarious. We argue that this is the case because both partners in role-reversed relationships are evaluated more negatively than partners in more egalitarian or traditional gender role relationships. In two experimental studies conducted in the United States …
Stimulating interethnic contact in Kosovo: The role of social identity complexity and distinctiveness threat
The positive effects of intergroup contact on prejudice reduction have been widely validated by now. However, the potential of contact for intergroup relations is only available when there is readiness to have contact with outgroup members to begin with. In two correlational studies with the main ethnic groups in postconflict Kosovo, Albanian majority (Study 1, N = 221) and Serb minority (Study 2, N = 110), we examine how social identity complexi…
All is nice and well unless she outshines him: Higher social status benefits women's well‐being and relationship quality but not if they surpass their male partner
In two studies, we find that climbing the societal ladder has positive associations with women's well‐being and relationship outcomes but can also have negative consequences when women surpass their male partners in status. In Study 1 (N = 314), we found that women who reported having higher personal status also reported several positive relationship outcomes (e.g., higher relationship quality than women with lower personal status). However, thes…
It’s a man’s world; right? How women’s opinions about gender inequality affect physiological responses in men
In two experiments, we examined how men respond to women who either challenge or legitimize societal gender inequality, and how gender identification moderates these responses. We hypothesized that men feel less threatened by women who legitimize (vs. challenge) the gender hierarchy, and evaluate these women more positively. To investigate these expectations, we assessed self-reports (Studies 1 and 2) and cardiovascular threat/challenge responses…
Social Neuroscience and Public Policy on Intergroup Relations: A Hegelian Analysis
Social neuroscience is an exciting new field with much to offer to the study of stigma and intergroup relations. In this article, we consider the potential impact that social neuroscience will have for social and public policy pertaining to these important topics. Taking a Hegelian approach, we discuss why social neuroscience should and should not be used by intergroup researchers and policy makers to inform public policy. We then critique these …
Self‐promotion”: How regulatory focus affects the pursuit of self‐interest at the expense of the group
Self‐interested behavior may have positive consequences for individual group‐members, but also negatively affects the outcomes of the group when group‐level and individual‐level interests are misaligned. In two studies, we examined such self‐interested, group‐undermining behavior from the perspective of regulatory focus theory. We predicted that when individual and group interests are out of alignment, individuals under promotion focus would be m…
Do not blame 'queen bees' for gender inequality in academia
How Do Children Learn Social Categorization and Intergroup Attitudes When They Grow Up in Divided Contexts
This paper explores how group preferences develop among children living in the post-conflict context of Kosovo and how this development shapes children’s willingness to be close to their outgroup peers among the segregated majority (ethnic Albanian) and minority (ethnic Serb) members. The study was conducted in four ethnically divided primary schools, with 220 participants aged 6–10. Children played a series of games and tasks which measured ethn…
Searching for acceptance: Prejudice expectations direct attention towards social acceptance cues when under a promotion focus
Prejudice expectations and other interpersonal rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social evaluative information. In some studies, rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social acceptance cues, whereas other studies have found an attention bias towards social rejection cues. In the present article we argue that these attention biases constitute promotion- (vs. prevention-) oriented strategies to …
The Beneficial Effects of Social Identity Protection on the Performance Motivation of Members of Devalued Groups
For members of socially devalued or stigmatized groups, work and educational settings can threaten social identity, inducing the use of coping strategies that lower their motivation (e.g., self‐segregation, domain disengagement) rather than improving their position in the social hierarchy. We review a recent research program on women and ethnic minorities to show that members of these stigmatized groups can maintain their motivation in threatenin…
Social creativity strikes back: Improving motivated performance of low status group members by valuing ingroup dimensions
Motivation of stigmatized group members to perform on status‐relevant ‘outgroup’ dimensions can be impaired after ingroup failure. Three experiments examined whether social creativity by valuing ingroup dimensions (dimensions on which an ingroup outperforms an outgroup) can increase motivation and performance on outgroup dimensions. It was hypothesized that under high social identity threat, motivation on the outgroup dimension would benefit from…
The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat
This article reviews social neuroscience research on the experience of stigma from the target's perspective. More specifically, we discuss several research programs that employ electroencephalography, event-related potentials, or functional magnetic resonance imaging methods to examine neural correlates of stereotype and social identity threat. We present neuroimaging studies that show brain activation related to the experience of being stereotyp…
Working for the self or working for the group: How self- versus group affirmation affects collective behavior in low-status groups
Experiencing social identity threat can lead members of stigmatized groups to protect their self-regard by withdrawing from domains that are associated with higher status groups. Four experiments examined how providing identity affirmation in alternative domains affects performance motivation in status-defining domains among stigmatized group members. Two forms of identity affirmation were distinguished: self-affirmation, which enhances personal …
Valuing Social Identity: Consequences for Motivation and Performance in Low-Status Groups
Presented is our perspective on the role of social identity in the motivation and performance of members of stigmatized groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women in traditionally male-dominated fields). We discuss how stigmatized group members pursuing upward mobility face significant threats in out-group environments through the numerical dominance of the higher status out-group, the negative views held by the out-group of the low-status group, and…
Social Neuroscience and Public Policy on Intergroup Relations: A Hegelian Analysis
Social neuroscience is an exciting new field with much to offer to the study of stigma and intergroup relations. In this article, we consider the potential impact that social neuroscience will have for social and public policy pertaining to these important topics. Taking a Hegelian approach, we discuss why social neuroscience should and should not be used by intergroup researchers and policy makers to inform public policy. We then critique these …
The threat vs. challenge of car parking for women: How self- and group affirmation affect cardiovascular responses
This study examines cardiovascular responses indicating challenge (vs. threat) during motivated performance of women under social identity threat. Low gender identified women should primarily be concerned with their personal identity and self-worth, leading them to benefit from self-affirmation under social identity threat. Highly identified women, conversely, should care more for the value of their group and benefit more from group affirmation. …
Do sexist organizational cultures create the Queen Bee?
‘Queen Bees’ are senior women in masculine organizational cultures who have fulfilled their career aspirations by dissociating themselves from their gender while simultaneously contributing to the gender stereotyping of other women. It is often assumed that this phenomenon contributes to gender discrimination in organizations, and is inherent to the personalities of successful career women. We argue for a social identity explanation and examine o…
Gender-Bias Primes Elicit Queen-Bee Responses Among Senior Policewomen
Queen bees are senior women in male-dominated organizations who have achieved success by emphasizing how they differ from other women. Although the behavior of queen bees tends to be seen as contributing to gender disparities in career outcomes, we argue that queen-bee behavior is actually a result of the gender bias and social identity threat that produce gender disparities in career outcomes. In the experiment reported here, we asked separate g…
Thou shalt not discriminate: How emphasizing moral ideals rather than obligations increases Whites' support for social equality
An important step toward reducing group-based disparities in society is creating support for equality among advantaged group members (e.g., Whites and men). The current research examined how presenting social equality between ethnic groups in terms of moral ideals (i.e., equal treatment) vs. moral obligations (i.e., non-discrimination) affected the attitudes of Whites (students in Study 1, N = 45 and 2, N = 44 and employees in Study 3a, N = 67 an…
At the Heart of Egalitarianism: How Morality Framing Shapes Cardiovascular Challenge Versus Threat in Whites
Work on morality framing has demonstrated that emphasizing moral ideals (vs. obligations) elicits positive intergroup attitudes among Whites (Does, Derks, & Ellemers, 2011). The current research goes beyond self-reported attitudes, by examining the effect of morality framing on more automatic, less consciously controlled responses of Whites. We tested the hypothesis that morality framing affects Whites’ appraisals of equality as challenging (vs. …
Working memory load reduces facilitated processing of threatening faces: An ERP study
The present study tested the hypothesis that facilitated processing of threatening faces depends on working memory load. Participants judged the gender of angry versus happy faces while event-related brain potentials were recorded. Working memory load was manipulated within subjects by the mental rehearsal of one- versus eight-digit numbers. Behavioral results showed that the relative slow-down to angry compared to happy faces in the gender-namin…
Searching for acceptance: Prejudice expectations direct attention towards social acceptance cues when under a promotion focus
Prejudice expectations and other interpersonal rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social evaluative information. In some studies, rejection concerns have been found to direct attention towards social acceptance cues, whereas other studies have found an attention bias towards social rejection cues. In the present article we argue that these attention biases constitute promotion- (vs. prevention-) oriented strategies to …
Moral Impression Management: Evaluation by an In-Group Member During a Moral IAT Affects Perceptual Attention and Conflict and Response Monitoring
Previous research revealed that emphasizing morality increases motivational processes that improve people’s task performance. Here we examined whether this emphasis differentially affects people’s performance in the presence of an in-group compared to an out-group member. Ostensibly while being evaluated by another person, participants performed an Implicit Association Test that was framed as a test of either their morality or their competence. R…
Self‐promotion”: How regulatory focus affects the pursuit of self‐interest at the expense of the group
Self‐interested behavior may have positive consequences for individual group‐members, but also negatively affects the outcomes of the group when group‐level and individual‐level interests are misaligned. In two studies, we examined such self‐interested, group‐undermining behavior from the perspective of regulatory focus theory. We predicted that when individual and group interests are out of alignment, individuals under promotion focus would be m…
Extending the Queen Bee Effect: How Hindustani Workers Cope with Disadvantage by Distancing the Self from the Group
Previous research revealed that one way by which members of minority groups resist disadvantage is through strategic “self‐group distancing” by evaluating this group negatively, describing themselves according to outgroup stereotypes and supporting the status hierarchy, hereby limiting societal change. Drawing upon recent work on the Queen Bee phenomenon among women at work, we explain self‐group distancing as a coping response of low identified …
The queen bee phenomenon: Why women leaders distance themselves from junior women
Queen Bees and Alpha Males: Are successful women more competitive than successful men
Two studies carried out in Switzerland examined different explanations for the “Queen Bee (QB)‐phenomenon.” In Study 1 ( N = 315), female managers (vs. subordinates) identified with successful women and supported measures that would benefit these women—even though they are their direct competitors. However, they were disinclined to identify with women who put their family first, viewed themselves as different (more masculine) than junior women, a…
Stimulating interethnic contact in Kosovo: The role of social identity complexity and distinctiveness threat
The positive effects of intergroup contact on prejudice reduction have been widely validated by now. However, the potential of contact for intergroup relations is only available when there is readiness to have contact with outgroup members to begin with. In two correlational studies with the main ethnic groups in postconflict Kosovo, Albanian majority (Study 1, N = 221) and Serb minority (Study 2, N = 110), we examine how social identity complexi…
Does Parenthood Change Implicit Gender-Role Stereotypes and Behaviors
This study examined whether parenthood changes gender-role behavior and implicit gender-role stereotypes as assessed with an Implicit Association Test in Dutch parents. In a cross-sectional sample, parents were found to have more traditional gender-role stereotypes than nonparents with a wish to have a child and nonparents without the wish to have a child. This suggests that gender-role stereotypes increase after the transition into parenthood. I…
Distancing from a stigmatized social identity: State of the art and future research agenda on self‐group distancing
Despite equal rights, minority groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + people, and people with mental or physical disabilities face discrimination on a day‐to‐day basis in subtle and hard‐to‐recognize forms. As discrimination slips beneath the surface, it becomes difficult to fight the stigma using collective social identity coping mechanisms. Instead, individual mobility responses such as distancing the self from the stigmatized identity (“sel…
How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe
The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce …
It’s a man’s world; right? How women’s opinions about gender inequality affect physiological responses in men
In two experiments, we examined how men respond to women who either challenge or legitimize societal gender inequality, and how gender identification moderates these responses. We hypothesized that men feel less threatened by women who legitimize (vs. challenge) the gender hierarchy, and evaluate these women more positively. To investigate these expectations, we assessed self-reports (Studies 1 and 2) and cardiovascular threat/challenge responses…
Penalized for Challenging Traditional Gender Roles: Why Heterosexual Relationships in Which Women Wear the Pants May Be More Precarious
There is growing evidence that heterosexual relationships in which traditional gender roles are reversed because women have attained higher societal status than their male partner are more precarious. We argue that this is the case because both partners in role-reversed relationships are evaluated more negatively than partners in more egalitarian or traditional gender role relationships. In two experimental studies conducted in the United States …
How Do Children Learn Social Categorization and Intergroup Attitudes When They Grow Up in Divided Contexts
This paper explores how group preferences develop among children living in the post-conflict context of Kosovo and how this development shapes children’s willingness to be close to their outgroup peers among the segregated majority (ethnic Albanian) and minority (ethnic Serb) members. The study was conducted in four ethnically divided primary schools, with 220 participants aged 6–10. Children played a series of games and tasks which measured ethn…
Psychology (27 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (20 works) · Social Psychology (15 works) · Social group (13 works) · Social identity theory (12 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (9 works)